FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The remote debate between Nigel Farage and Edi Rama is not just a matter of the numbers of Albanians in Great Britain, but also a rejoinder by the leader of the "Reform UK" party to the criticism of the Albanian prime minister for initiatives against immigrants.
Nigel Farage insists that he won the bet with Edi Rama, but in the meantime he openly says that he did not like the Albanian prime minister's critical stances towards BREX, the referendum that took England out of the EU.
Full interview:
-Mr. Farage, what made you comment on what Prime Minister Edi Rama said in his interview with The Guardian , where he criticized the current British government on immigration issues, as you do every day?
Nigel Farage - Look, the whole issue of foreign prisoners is a big one here in the UK. We have over 10,000 foreign nationals in our prisons and that has led to overcrowding. In order to free up places, we are releasing those who have not committed serious crimes early from prison. So there is a debate about that. And in the case of Albania, there are a lot of Albanians in our prisons and I believe that they should not be in our country but should be returned to Albania. Now, your Prime Minister, Mr. Rama, who is never ashamed and is entertaining and of course is against Brexit even though Brexit has nothing to do with him. I have never understood that, he questioned my figures. 1 in 50 Albanians in Britain is in prison saying that is crazy. Mr. Rama attacked me and then said that if my figures are true he was committed to taking them to Albania. I have done my own checks and re-checks of the figures and the official government statistics of October 2024 show that there are approximately 53,000 Albanians in Britain and of them 1,200 in prison. So exactly 1 in 50 is in prison. Now Rama tells us that there are more Albanians in Britain because many have come illegally by dinghy. So this makes the figure of those who should not be in Britain larger. I want to tell you that your Prime Minister is wrong in everything he said. We have an Albanian here convicted of 50 crimes. Come on now Edi, after you promised me I got the figures, you can take them now.
-Were you surprised when you received two responses in X from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, after you, on your show on GB News, asked him to take Albanian convicts from the United Kingdom to return them to Albania?
Nigel Farage - He criticized my country saying that we are in a dark place considering sending migrants abroad. I told him that this is hypocrisy because your country has negotiated with Meloni of Italy to take migrants. He cannot be critical and double standards and for this he should take the Albanian prisoners and return them to their homeland. He is enjoying confronting me on Twitter. I promise you that when he says my figures are wrong I will tell him. No. He has the figures wrong. I am right and I can't wait to keep my promise.
-We have seen in the past that Mr. Rama has criticized British politicians such as Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick. Now it seems that you have also been involved in an exchange of remarks with Edi Rama about Albanians in the United Kingdom. Who do you think will win this debate?
Nigel Farage - He makes a lot of noise about being a big man. Of course he's left wing, he has globalist views and is against Brexit. Let me tell you that's none of his business. There's no reason to criticize Great Britain. Look, I want good Albanians to come to Britain. We don't want people coming from Albania who are bad. Any responsible country should do that. And I think in this whole clash - you're right when you say that Rama has criticized Suela and Robert Jenrick and I've seen that in the past but Rama has picked a fight with me over the wrong issue. My numbers are fine. Edi Rama's numbers are wrong. He made a promise and I want him to keep it.
-Are you willing to debate face to face with Prime Minister Edi Rama on some of the figures you are talking about?
Nigel Farage - Look, even though I don't agree with his philosophy now and his numbers are wrong, I haven't met him yet. To me he's an entertaining figure. So, if I'm invited to Tirana for lunch with Edi Rama, I'll come.
-If it turns out that the figure you mentioned – that 1 in 50 Albanians in the UK is in prison – is incorrect, will you apologize? Mr. Rama stated yesterday that there is an estimate of over 140,000 Albanians in the UK, a figure which was also referred to in a hearing and a report by the House of Commons in 2023 – and from my experience as a journalist living and working in London for more than 11 years, I can say with certainty that approximately 200,000 Albanians live in the UK today – whether with a residence permit or illegally.
Nigel Farage - If they are illegal then the number of Albanian criminals is not 1 in 50 but 1 in 2 and if that is the case they should be returned to Albania. I have the figures in order. They are regular official figures. If Rama's defence is that Nigel is wrong because many of them are illegal that makes the case in my favour and fundamentally wrong for Rama.
- Since 2023, Albania and the United Kingdom have had a prisoner transfer agreement, which is operational, and more than 15 Albanian citizens sentenced to over 4 years in prison have already returned to Albania. Albania is the only country that receives a special (charter) flight from the United Kingdom Home Office, with illegal immigrants deported every week. Furthermore, SPAK (Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime) and the NCA (United Kingdom National Crime Agency) have a joint investigation unit – the only one of its kind in the Balkans. Do you give credit to the Albanian government for cooperating so closely with the United Kingdom?
Nigel Farage - It's a start. It's a start. And if we talk about this cooperation it makes it even more strange why your Prime Minister is attacking me. This doesn't make sense. It's just a start Mr. Rama. When I come to meet you for lunch we will talk at length and we will have good relations between the two countries of course if he stops the attack on Brexit./ TCH
Lini një Përgjigje